That Fair Oaks Pkwy bridge is about to be done

We're going to go ahead and bury the lede on this post. If you want to get down to the brass tacks of what's going to impact you, skip down to the bottom where we'll talk about the major closure coming the weekend of April 27-30.
Before we get that far we want to address a few quick questions. As always, we offer the same candor we are afforded.

Where is everybody? It seems like it's been months since anyone worked on that bridge or have seen anyone at all. Today is the 30th of March, and at noon nobody is working.
Maybe it's a perception issue you have, and that perception is that the project is delayed, abandoned, etc. I haven't seen any updates on it here in ages and according to this site it's completion is supposed to be Summer of 2018. You currently do not look like you're going to finish by that time period if nobody seems to be working on it.
Again, this may be my own perception issue, but a little more updates on this site and maybe having someone at the actual worksite could ease some people's minds on the constant traffic around the around easing up sooner rather than later.
- Gerard
Gerard, we are afraid it is a bit of a perception issue. RELMCo is still working on a pace that will have this project completed by early summer this year and are working mostly at night on the bridge. They do this to stay out of the way of traffic on the highways and the frontage roads. If you're on the road, they don't want to be - it's risky.
You're going to see us put traffic onto the new bridge the last weekend of this month. Take a look below for more information.

According to the bridge construction diagram, the old bridge at Fair Oaks Parkway will be removed, and a new westbound to eastbound turnaround would be built in the future. However, from the looks of the grading going on, the existing bridge will be used as the turnaround. What say you?
- Al Koppen
After putting in nice, long, straight entrance ramp to eastbound I-10 at Fair Oaks Ranch, they now tore it up!!! What's with that? More taxpayer $$$ down the sewer. The guilty party should be strung up!
- Al Koppen
A couple of days ago, I wrote asking why the recently paved new straight entrance ramp to I-10 at Fair Oaks Parkway was ripped up. Yesterday, the new one exiting westbound I-10 to Fair Oaks Parkway was torn up. Who did the planning on this project--some elementary school kids?
- Al Koppen
First of all, Al, we went ahead and published your questions as submitted so we can all see the approach being taken here. No, we don't have grade-schoolers running the project. And no, we will not entertain public executions as a punishment for our employees who do their jobs.
To answer your question, let's first establish a basis of understanding for what we're doing. Heck, we've even got pictures to do it.
First of all, we have two projects happening out here. One is to rebuild the bridge over I-10 to connect Fair Oaks Parkway and Tarpon Drive. This second project converts the frontage roads to one-way and relocates several entrance and exit ramps to accommodate the new overpass at Old Fredericksburg Road.

You can see how all this lays out, with both projects together, here. For just this intersection, here you go:

The ramps you're seeing, Al, are associated with the bridge construction. Building a bridge over a major highway means several major highway closures, which you've no doubt driven through. As we explained when the project started, we built temporary ramps designed to occasionally carry the main lanes traffic off the main lanes, through the intersection and back on.

Because of those temporary ramps we were able to see delays stay, for the most part, under 15 minutes during major closures on this project. Other projects along the corridor, where construction of such ramps was not possible, have seen delays creep to well over an hour.

Alright. So here's the rub with the temporary ramps: they were built smack-dab in the middle of the new ramps being built for the second project. That's why you saw them torn up - they need to go so we can build the permanent ramps. They were, once again, temporary ramps built relatively inexpensively to handle traffic only a handful of times, which they've done marvelously.

With the temporary ramps gone the good folks with Sundt Construction can begin building the new ramps, which should come online later this summer.
We hope that clears things up a bit for you, Al.

What's coming
Beginning Friday night, April 27, RELMCo will shut down the intersection of Fair Oaks Parkway, Tarpon Drive and the I-10 frontage road.
The main lanes will not be impacted by this closure.
We have to shut down the intersection for the weekend to reconstruct the weekend in one fell swoop. When we're done we'll have traffic on the new bridge and most of the asphalt work will be finished.

During the closure traffic will follow posted detour signs to reach its destination. If the graphic of the closure doesn't help, try this list:
Westbound traffic to Fair Oaks Parkway will use Leslie Pfeiffer
Traffic coming from Fair Oaks Village Business Park will still be able to head west only; to go east they can either head all the way to Balcones Creek and turn around
Traffic headed east along the westbound frontage road can reach Fair Oaks Parkway by using Old Fredericksburg Road and Dietz-Elkhorn
Eastbound traffic to Tarpon Drive will exit as normal, hook around and go west to Windwood Drive and continue to Tarpon Drive
Westbound traffic to Tarpon Drive will remain on the main lanes, turn around at Balcones Creek and approach from the eastbound side
Eastbound traffic to Fair Oaks Parkway will remain on the main lanes, turn around at Ralph Fair Road and approach from the westbound side
When all is said and done this weekend all traffic on Fair Oaks Parkway and Tarpon Drive will be on the new bridge.
This actually brings us back to Al Koppen's first question above. So you don't have to check back up there to review, he wanted to know about the plan to use the bridge being used now as the turnaround.
Well, the bridge now being used is actually the new turnaround. We moved traffic onto it back in August, then tore down the old bridge entirely.
Well, until we get the frontage roads converted to one-way that turnaround bridge simply isn't going to mesh well with traffic. That means it will be closed - temporarily - once we get traffic onto the complete new bridge.
Please, friends, get this message out:
The turnaround bridge will be temporarily closed until the frontage roads are converted to one-way traffic. That should happen this summer.

That's it for now
That's all we have for now. As always, let us know if we can answer any other questions by submitting through our Mail Bag located at the left of the page.

Mail bag: A few questions from 2017 we've not yet answered

Thanks for answering my previous question regarding the US 281 NBFR lane closure. I was referring to pages 211 and 216 of the TCP located here.
I'm concerned that we (TxDOT and taxpayers) may not be getting what we've paid for (avoiding the lane closure). It's possible that plans have changed or the contractor has negotiated something with the PE to reduce the construction time.
-Tom
You'll note the general notes of the plans allow closures at the discretion of the project engineer. This is designed to afford our project staff the room to appropriately negotiate with the contractor and, yes, speed up the work a bit.

Why has the closure of the WBFR at Old Fredericksburg been pushed back a month? Surely a couple days of rain and brief snowfall can't result in a whole month delay.
- Dave
You're right - the rain and snowfall aren't the only contributors here (but are indeed relevant). The short end of it is we had a few issues with the retaining walls at the location and production rates haven't been as projected. As of today we're hoping to have it reopened by the end of February.

I realize there are all kinds of road construction projects going on that are supposed to improve the 410 to 151 to Military area, but I guess I don't understand the plans.
Right now, the exit from 410 to 151 has been reconfigured and it's very congested to move over into the right most lane to exit 410 there. Then it's very difficult and congested most days when trying to get over to the right on the access road and then very difficult to get over to the left to get in line to enter 151. Will any of the plans ease this part of the congestion? It feels very unsafe IMO the way it is now.
- Kimbie
Kimbie, what you're driving through right now is a temporary condition as the project continues to move forward.
Here's what the road will look like (from above) when we're all done:

When will I-37 north exit 140A open? Why was it closed? Nothing has been happening since closure.
- Tim
Right now the goal is the end of March. We had an erosion issue (engineers call it a "slope failure") to shore up and discovered some challenges we hadn't anticipated. After re-thinking our plan of attack for the issue and with the holidays now behind us, crews should be moving again.

Question regarding the 410/35 NE project. On 410/35 North when you are approaching the bridge over Walzem, the left lane currently disappears.
This is a major bottleneck every afternoon. Is this permanent and if not, when will it be open? Everyday people "run" that fast lane all the way to the end and cut off the people who actually paid attention to the signage.
- Jeff
With the work we did last weekend, Jeff, this issue should be addressed. Traffic should be open now to four lanes each way and is basically in its final configuration.

Is there any word on when they will do the pour for the new bridge over I-10 between Fair Oaks Ranch Parkway and Tarpon Dr.?
- Gregory
We did this last weekend! Expect overnight closures during upcoming weeks to pour the bridge rails. Those closures will be posted in our weekly closures post.

As per your Sept 15 update on the I10 project between Ralph Fair & fair Oaks Ranch, it is stated that this project is to be completed by late Spring 2018. It is now January and there appears to be no work yet on most of the on/off ramps. The closure on the Frontage Road by Old Fred has gone past the original schedule. What is the current completion date for this whole project between Ralph fair and Fair Oaks ranch?
- Robert
At the moment we're looking at mid-summer. Production rates have slowed over the last six months from the torrid pace Sundt had at the start of the project, but that earlier pace was strong enough to give them a cushion.
The earlier assessment of late spring was based on that faster pace. Sundt is working on a number of tasks on the job at the moment - including working on those new ramps you referenced - and Sundt is working on making up some of their lost time.
Right now, given the loss of production over the winter months, we're looking at mid-summer for substantial completion.

The big'uns to look for in December

Our contractors are working at blistering paces on projects district-wide to ensure we have no closures impeding holiday travel after school districts let out for the Christmas break. That happens, for nearly all major school districts in our area, at some point the week of December 18-22.
In order to ensure the work we do between about December 18 and January 2 is done without closures you'll see a flurry of overnight closures and at least three semi-major closures in the San Antonio area.
Check our weekly lane closures report for overnight closures. Here is a brief list of our biggest closures to be aware of:

• Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. I-410 main lanes and frontage road, both directions, at US 90. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. Southbound traffic will exit westbound US 90, turn around at Hunt Lane and return to southbound I-410. Northbound traffic will exit eastbound US 90, turn around at Military Drive and return to northbound I-410.
• Friday, December 15 at 8 p.m. until Saturday, December 16 at 6 p.m. I-10 main lanes, both directions, at Fair Oaks Parkway. All lanes will close while crews pour concrete to form a bridge deck overhead. Traffic in both directions will exit Fair Oaks Parkway, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway.
• Friday, December 15 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 18 at 5 a.m. I-35 main lanes, both directions, between George Beach and Randolph Boulevard. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews resurface the road. When the closure is picked up the capacity of I-35 will be increased by one lane in each direction (main lanes traffic will be in its final configuration).

Please plan accordingly.

Some daytime work to be aware of

Two areas - both near elementary schools - will be briefly impacted by work Friday. If you're part of the impacted community and reading this, please share it with your friends.

Fair Oaks Ranch
After finishing a seal coat on Ralph Fair Road two weeks ago we are ready to get painters out to re-stripe the road. This work will begin Friday once the morning dew burns off and continue until work is complete.
Yes, we know that's really vague, and we're sorry. We have to wait for the dew to burn off because paint doesn't stick too well to wet roads. With a sunrise set for about 7:20 a.m. and a dew point likely lower than this morning's 70 degrees, that should mean we'll see the wet ground burn off pretty darned quick. Expect to see us out there around 9, really.

As for our finish time ... we really won't quit until the job is done and the road is re-striped. Our contractor, IBM, has dedicated their top crew and best equipment for the job so we're expecting a pretty quick turnaround - hopefully well before the evening rush at 4 p.m.
We do expect to see some impact to the afternoon pickup rush at Fair Oaks Ranch Elementary School, though, so if you're planning to pick up your kiddos Friday afternoon please plan on a few additional travel minutes.
Striping is a rolling operation - nothing is stationary. We'll work on one side of the road at a time and move along at about 5 miles per hour. We've got an off-duty officer on hand to shadow the work convoy and allow traffic to pass safely as needed. That said, please plan on a few extra minutes to travel through.

Marbach Road - far west San Antonio

Webber Construction is setting bridge support beams over Marbach Road at Loop 1604 on the far west side of town Friday. These beams will form the eventual southbound overpass for Loop 1604 at Marbach Road.
We're aware of the mix between traffic to Southwest ISD schools like Scobee Middle School and Big Country Elementary and residents outside Loop 1604 headed to Northside ISD schools like Grosenbacher Elementary. We've built our work schedule around these school schedules and are asking our contractor, who will begin work at 9 a.m., to break between 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. so we stay out of the way of pick-up times. If we haven't finished work by 2:30 p.m. Webber will set up the closure again at 6 p.m. and continue until they're done.
This work will mean closing Marbach completely immediately west of Loop 1604 (so pretty much just the Champions Park neighborhood) for half-hour spurts while each beam is set over Marbach. Off-duty officers will be at the location to get traffic moved through the area as needed.
Thru traffic on Loop 1604 will not be impacted by this closure.
For those looking for an alternate route during this work, Emory Peak should be able to get you in and out of your neighborhood.

Two major closures this weekend

We've got TWO major closures scheduled for this weekend. These posts typically publish much sooner - our apologies for the delay. We'll get into why in a moment. First, the closures:

I-10 at Fair Oaks Parkway
Starting Friday (8 September) at 9 p.m. all main lanes of I-10 will close at Fair Oaks Parkway while RELMCo, Inc., demolishes the old Fair Oaks Parkway overpass bridge. We'll have everything opened up by 5 a.m. Monday (11 September).
This closure will follow the same structure we've used in previous closures, with one-way traffic through the intersection and cross traffic on the bridge shut down. While we've been able to keep traffic moving pretty well during these closures drivers should still expect delays. The biggest impacts, as the last few runs of this closure, will be on those using Fair Oaks Parkway or Tarpon Drive - if that's where you will be driving you may want to find some alternate routes.

Some bridge support structures for the new Fair Oaks Pkwy

overpass have already been built.

Previous closures finished fairly quickly - way ahead of projected schedules. Do not expect that this weekend. Bridge demolition requires quite a bit of work taking a lot of extra time. We have to protect the road surface under the bridge we're tearing out, which is usually done by dumping piles of dirt or sand to form a bed. After the bridge is cut and broken apart the chunks of steel and concrete to a disposal site. Once the old bridge is completely cleared away the dirt cushion will scooped up and swept to return the main lanes of I-10 to action.
If that sounds like it's really involved, well, it is.
With the old bridge out of the way RELMCo will continue to build up the support structure for the new bridge, which will connect Tarpon Drive and Fair Oaks Parkway directly. Some of those supports are already in place.
The next major closure of I-10 at this location will come when RELMCo is ready to set bridge beams across the highway. That, too, will require a weekend for work; we'll have it posted when scheduled.

I-35 at New Braunfels Avenue
Starting Friday (8 September) at 9 p.m. all main lanes of I-35 will close at New Braunfels Avenue near Fort Sam Houston while CRG demolishes the old New Braunfels Avenue overpass bridge. We'll have everything opened up by 5 a.m. Monday (11 September). We had this closure planned for August but were forced to postpone work for a number of reasons.

This is a closure we've done in the past - the last time we interrupted work to accommodate traffic to the AT&T Center during the San Antonio Spurs' playoff run - and it's gone fairly well. To be clear: this one will hang up traffic quite a bit. I-35 is one of the most-traveled roads in all San Antonio with more than 170,000 daily trips through this corridor on average. We'll have cross traffic at New Braunfels Avenue closed as we've done in the past. We'll have the same detours in place, with traffic crossing I-35 being pushed to Walters Street to reach its destination.
Like the demolition of the Fair Oaks Parkway bridge, this closure should last the entire weekend. CRG will lay down a dirt bed before breaking apart the old bridge. Once the scraps are hauled out and the dirt bed is swept up and cleaned traffic will be running again as normal.
The big difference at this location is what traffic will do when things are finished Monday morning. Traffic at Fair Oaks Parkway is already using a temporary solution of the turnaround bridge as a normal bridge. At New Braunfels Avenue traffic will be shifted onto the new bridge half that's being finished up over the weekend.
Like the I-10 work, we should still have a few full closures ahead to set bridge beams, deck panels and to pour concrete. Most of those (at least not setting bridge beams) will be done overnight when needed. Those will be posted in our weekly closures report.

Why not post sooner?
Both closures had been planned for August. We even got to do the first of what was to be consecutive weekends with closures on I-10. Both closures were postponed for a few reasons, then got pushed again when Texas was hit by Hurricane Harvey. There was potential of pushing these closures again due to traffic issues associated with Harvey relief efforts, but traffic volumes have begun to decrease for that work and our administrative team agreed the time to move forward with our projects has come.
That decision was made today - we didn't want to post again on these closures with the chance they'd be pushed back. Again.

Next I-10 closures at Fair Oaks Pkwy

We have two more weekend-long closures impacting I-10 at Fair Oaks Parkway coming in August. And, to be completely honest, these are going to be doozies. They'll have a greater impact, by far, than the previous two closures.
Here's a look at what's going on, taking things chronologically:
August 18-21
This closure will have little impact on the main lanes of I-10 but will be significant for the intersections on the frontage roads. Actually, we will completely close the intersections - on both sides - at Fair Oaks Parkway.
Work will begin about 9 o'clock Friday night (August 18) and finish no later than Monday morning (August 21) at 5 o'clock. We are hoping to be wrapped up with this work a little early, though.
When work is done all traffic on the Fair Oaks Parkway bridge will be moved onto the turnaround bridge. Yes, there is enough space - just enough for a pair of narrow travel lanes. Nothing too extreme, but it was built wide enough to accommodate traffic for the detour.
During the closure we'll have some pretty interesting detours in place. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's what things will look like (click on it to enlarge):

The orange area is the work area - and will be completely closed through the weekend of August 18-21.

Those trying to reach Fair Oaks Parkway may do so through Leslie Pfeiffer Drive. Those trying to get to Tarpon Drive need to use Windwood Drive. If you're headed to those businesses in the area, you'll do so following the same routes - Windwood Drive and Leslie Pfeiffer.
Again, with a little luck with weather and equipment we won't be at it all weekend and folks can return to normal well before Monday morning.
When work is done for the weekend the intersection of Fair Oaks Parkway and the westbound frontage road of I-10 will be skewed quite a bit. That skew will continue until the project is finished and traffic is on the new bridge.
August 25-28
This one is the big'un.
We'll have all main lanes of I-10 closed - both directions, to be clear - beginning 9 p.m. August 25 until 5 a.m. August 28. This is the weekend we're demolishing the old Fair Oaks Parkway overpass bridge.
Traffic will use the same detour path we've used before with two lanes exiting the highway in each direction, then re-entering after the intersection. We've seen this work well for us thus far.

Please don't expect this work to wrap up so early the way it did during other closures, though. Demolishing a bridge takes a while - it's an involved process. First crews will lay down a bed of sand or dirt under the bridge. This ensures falling concrete chunks don't do significant damage to the roadway underneath. The bridge is cut and broken into pieces and hauled off in as controlled a manner as possible. Getting trucks into and out of the closure area can be difficult as well, and slow some of the work. We have contingency plans in place, but this can slog things a bit.
Once the bridge is wrecked and pieces hauled out we have to clean up the road, including that bed of sand, and inspect the road surface to ensure we don't have any major damage. Once our inspectors are satisfied the road is traffic-worthy everything opens up and is back to normal.
It's an involved process and will certainly take the entirety of the weekend.
Looking beyond
For those keeping tabs these are the third and fourth major closures at this location. When the project began we anticipated about ten such closures - which means we're about halfway through the misery. The next major closure won't come until we are ready to hang beams - and in order to do that we have a lot of concrete work to do. The likelihood of setting those beams before the end of 2017 is pretty slim, unless RELMCo really speeds up their processes.
One of those ten remaining closures - and likely the final closure - will mirror what we're doing August 18-21 to get the intersection rebuilt and traffic into its final configuration.
Still on schedule
By the way, this project is still on schedule to wrap up by summer 2018.

Mail Bag: I-10, ramp speed limits, traffic shifts, future plans

Are there any plans to move the northbound Watson Ln/Old Bastrop Rd exit further south? It is difficult to see vehicles exiting onto the frontage road when trying to turn from Watson Ln East onto the access road. It seems like moving it a half to 3/4 miles south allow more room for error. I don't if dodging traffic is the cause but the guard rail on the corner of Watson Ln East & the frontage road seems to get damaged fairly often. Maybe vehicles are just coming off the exit too fast and can't make the almost immediate right turn onto Watson Ln East.
- Bob
Right now, Bob, we don't have any such plans on our list of projects. That's not to say this can't be something that gets added. Stuff like this can become a priority by pushing it through the Alamo Area MPO - a group that kind of tells us where to spend our money in the region (allowing for local-level decisions rather than state-level decisions). We'll forward the comment to our internal planners and our area office in New Braunfels as well to see if we can at least keep the area on our radar.

Will you clarify how drivers determine the speed limit on flyovers, such as the Bandera Road connector to Loop 410 and the Loop 1604 connector to Highway 151? Do we follow the speed posted on the "Exit 45 mph" sign the entire distance of the flyover, or can we accelerate to highway speed once we get into the flyover? The Bandera Road connector has no signs along the way (except the "Exit 45 mph" at the entrance). I think the 151-1604 connector might actually have a speed limit sign at the entrance - but I'm still a little unclear if that applies to the entire distance. I try to stay around 50 mph on the Bandera connector, but people ride my bumper like crazy.
- Angela
Great question, Angela. There are two types of speed limits - regulatory speeds and advisory speeds. Those yellow signs with speed limits posted are advisory speeds - meaning they're a recommended speed to maintain safety on the ramp.
According to our Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (section 2c.14) these yellow advisory speeds are placed at locations to allow you to appropriately slow down as your exiting the highway. Once you're on the ramp, we won't place additional yellow advisory speed signs unless there's a change in the "horizontal alignment". That's engineer speak for "if the road curves".
Ultimately, those advisory speeds are there to help you remain safe as you drive. We would all do well to remember it's not about getting to our destinations fastest, but about getting to our destinations the safest.
Once nearing the end of these ramps drivers should begin safe merging practices by speeding up to the normal speed of the traffic with which they're merging and continue along their way.
We hope that helps!

What does right-in, right-out mean? If I'm coming down I-10E, how do I get into Fair Oaks Ranch? If I'm in FOR, how do I get to I-10E?
- Al
For everyone else: Al asked this a few weeks ago, prior to our first major closure of I-10 at Fair Oaks Parkway.
Right-in, right-out configurations happen when access to or from a side road is right-turn only. Here's a look at an easy engineer's drawing from our manuals:

I have a question. A few years ago I-10 was under construction to make the exit and bridge for the Dominion folks - because they are the rich ones, I guess. Now we are under construction again - for WHAT? There needs to be 3 lanes going in each direction from the Rim to Fair Oaks if not all the way to Boerne. The big trucks need to stay out of the left lane - they are dangerous! Why wasn't this done in the first place instead of tearing up the highway twice and spending extra money? And are we getting 3 lanes going east and west?
- Linda
Lots of issues to address here, Linda, but we'll try and stick to the basic question we think you're asking. We think you are really wanting to know when you're getting additional lanes to I-10 between Loop 1604 and Boerne.
The shortest answer is we'll be adding those much-needed extra lanes in segments. The first segment will be between La Cantera Parkway and Ralph Fair Road. Work on that project is set to begin early fall (August/September) this year and will take about three years to build. More information on the project may be found here.
As to the issue of why we didn't do it in the first place, when we re-did the overpass at Dominion Drive? Simply put: money and permission. We didn't have all our documents ready at the time to do an expansion like this, and we didn't have the money to do more. We're sorry we couldn't do more at the time and we're excited the Texas Clear Lanes initiative has enabled us to appropriately prioritize this project now.

Hwy 151 in San Antonio - I saw the notification sign this morning that the eastbound entrance ramp to 151 at Hunt Lane will be closed 18 July. Will this be a one day closure, or long term? Also, what time will the closure begin?
- ebargainer
This is a temporary closure and will last only a couple of days to allow crews to widen the ramp. Closure info is posted weekly here.

Will we have 151 run all the way to Talley Road in the near future? And are you doing any construction Talley Road soon?
- Janie
In theory, Janie, yes! Well, sort of. The extension of Alamo Ranch Parkway further east is up to the private developers continuing to build in that area. Development of Talley Road is up to Bexar County Public Works and is on their to-do list. They'll have a better idea as to the timeframe and other details of what's going on.
The real question, then, is whether Alamo Ranch Parkway will ever be converted to Hwy 151. Right now the answer is "no", but you never know what'll happen in 10 years.

There's a sign at Military Drive and 1604 in NW SA that warns of a "traffic switch" on 7-12-2017. No info seems to be available as to what a "traffic switch" entails or what time this will be happening.
- Kim
Kim, there's no excuse. We simply dropped the ball on getting word on this out. We have info out there now, which was published Saturday. Check out all the details here.

I-10 work in July: updated timeline

Welp, we're midway through July. That takes us through the activities (well, most of them) noted on our earlier post detailing the work along I-10 between San Antonio and Boerne. Here's an updated timetable from our project engineer:

At Scenic Loop Road
In order to demolish the old westbound I-10 bridge over Scenic Loop Road (traffic was switched off the bridge in earlier weeks) we'll have the intersection under I-10 closed through this weekend.
Work will begin Friday (July 14) at 9 p.m. and wrap up no later than Monday at 6 a.m.
Traffic from Scenic Loop Road and from Cascade Caverns will use the frontage roads and turn around at either Business 87 or at Balcones Creek to reach its destination.

New overpass at Old Fredericksburg Road
The eastbound main lanes will be moved onto the overpass this weekend. Sundt Construction will start around 3 a.m. Saturday (July 15) and continue until finished - no later than Monday at 5 a.m. We'll keep one lane of I-10 open, so we're not shutting the highway down, but expect slow going. When we're all done Monday we'll have eastbound lanes all up on the new overpass bridge.
That means the westbound side will get done the following weekend (July 22-24), following the same schedule. To be clear, that's 3 a.m. July 22 until 5 a.m. July 24.
With traffic  up on the new overpass we'll have crews working to open the intersection below - which will happen early 2018 - before converting frontage roads between Ralph Fair Road and Old Fredericksburg Road to one-way.

New westbound exit to Hwy 46
The new westbound exit ramp to Hwy 46 is finally opening up, but we'll have to use some closures to make it happen. That work wills tart 9 p.m. July 28 and run through 5 a.m. July 31. When we're finished we'll have the new westbound frontage road fully functional, including a new westbound exit ramp to Hwy 46 and an on-ramp serving those coming off the frontage road.
During the ramp closure traffic will use Business 87 (Main Street) and Hwy 46 (Bandera Road) to reach its destination. This route will be posted with signs as appropriate.

Next major thing at Fair Oaks Parkway
The next major closure of I-10 at Fair Oaks Parkway will be the granddaddy and is tentatively scheduled for August 4-7. We'll be demolishing the old Fair Oaks Parkway bridge, which will take a long time to get done. Why? We lay down a bed of sand and dirt on the road to cushion the main lanes against falling chunks of concrete, then break away and demolish the bridge, then clean up the debris, then clean up the sand/dirt bed we laid down. It takes a good minute to get done.
Before we do that, we'll be shifting traffic off the current bridge onto the new turnaround bridge; that turnaround bridge is wide enough to accommodate traffic the same as the current bridge does. This is a temporary shift until the full project is complete.
We'll have more info on this work in upcoming posts.

This weekend's closure on I-10

You may have read last week of our planned closure on I-10 at Fair Oaks Ranch scheduled for June 17-18.
Earlier today we rode along with project engineer Joe Mendez to get a feel for how the closure will go. If you missed the live broadcast, check out the rebroadcast:

Please note Joe was driving and the video device was held and operated by the passenger. #Safetyfirst, right?

Summer closures on I-10 start June 17

Over the course of the summer we'll have about a half-dozen major closures or traffic shifts on I-10 between Leon Springs and Boerne. The first will happen June 17-18 at Fair Oaks Parkway.
Yes, that's the weekend of Father's Day. We know that - and we have no intention to disturb the great day of dads. Here are the details:

Fair Oaks Parkway

Temporary ramps have been built to
detour main lane traffic onto and off of
the frontage roads at Fair Oaks Parkway.

For those unfamiliar with the territory here, we're reconstructing the Fair Oaks Parkway overpass with a bunch of extra capacity. The bridge currently has two lanes and stop signs at all the corners. The new bridge will feature two lanes in each direction, left turn lanes and a west-to-east turnaround.
On June 17 RELMCo Inc. will set bridge support beams for the new turnaround. Starting 5 a.m. Saturday (and going through Monday at 6 a.m., though we hope to be done much sooner) all main lanes of I-10 will exit Fair Oaks Parkway, run through the intersection and re-enter the highway. We have temporary ramps constructed and we'll contraflow the frontage roads to keep two lanes of main lane traffic flowing.
This means through traffic will be blocked on the frontage roads approaching Fair Oaks Parkway. Traffic to and from Fair Oaks Parkway (and Tarpon Drive) will be right-in, right-out only. Finally Old Fredericksburg Road and Leslie Pfeiffer Drive will be closed off from I-10.
Clear as mud? Perhaps this image will help:

Red areas will be closed; the green areas will be the traffic lanes for the duration of the closure.

When work is done traffic will be restored to its "normal" configuration and the temporary ramps will be blocked off again. We'll be using them for other closures in the future, though. This is the first of about a half-dozen full closures that will occupy a weekend at this location. Expect overnight closures later this summer as crews pour concrete.
Every effort has been made to minimize the impact on the flow of main lane traffic. However, frontage road and side street traffic will be heavily impacted. No driveways running up to the frontage road will be accessible during this closure; this should not significantly impact the businesses in the area, as all affected businesses have alternate access points.

Other closures
All but two of the following six weekends will feature a major closure or a traffic switch of some sort, and we'll have plenty of overnight closures as well. Here's the quick rundown so you can mark your calendars:

• July 7-10, westbound exit ramp to Hwy 46. The ramp will close while crews put finishing touches on a new ramp and the new westbound frontage road. Traffic will use US 87 to reach Hwy 46.
• July 8-9, main lanes at Scenic Loop Road. This one will be alternating lanes while crews move traffic lanes around for the final phase of construction.
• July 14-17, eastbound main lanes between Ralph Fair Road and Fair Oaks Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews move traffic up onto the new overpass bridge.
• July 21-24, westbound main lanes between Ralph Fair Road and Fair Oaks Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews move traffic up onto the new overpass bridge.

All these dates are subject to change for a variety of reasons, but this is the current plan. We'll have more details about each closure or traffic swap as they draw near.

Ralph Fair Road project: exploring solutions

We've had overwhelming feedback from residents in the area of Ralph Fair Road and I-10, letting us know just how difficult the traffic situation is in the area.

Notable areas of concern:

• Old Fredericksburg Road at Ralph Fair Road
• Ralph Fair Road at westbound frontage road
• Accessing the eastbound frontage road from the Ralph Fair Road bridge
• Fair Oaks Parkway at I-10

We've got engineers examining each area and have already implemented some solutions for these sticking points. We have a number of additional solutions in the mix. With a handful of potential solutions for each item - including those solutions offered by area residents - to consider. Each are being considered carefully, with a strategic implementation plan developed for each.

That may sound like a drawn-out process, but with engineers meeting daily on the issue, changes are coming almost every day.

The most promising development has been some time-savings discoveries in the field. That means we're looking into options to reduce the overall construction time, which will limit the duration of the current traffic pattern.

Bottom line: we are doing all we can to find real, actual solutions. It won't make traffic run completely smooth during construction, but the solutions we're looking at should help.

*Update 12-12, from the area engineer responsible for the project:


We are working on some revisions and changes to return the frontage roads west of FM 3351 to 2 way as soon as possible.  Best case scenario, we could have this done next week. We will firm up the plan this afternoon. We are going to eliminate most of the total reconstruction plans for the frontage roads west of FM 3351; these frontage roads are in good shape, and we have additional projects coming in the near future that can accomplish that work work if it's needed..Instead we will widen the existing roadway and match the roadway elevations by adding layers of asphalt as needed. Our project engineer had several good and innovative ideas on this to help us get to this point.

Potential overall time savings for this option is unknown at the moment, but this plan should help ease some of the pressure in the area.

New project: Ralph Fair Road bridge

A new project is set to begin Monday (24 March), potentially impacting traffic in the Fair Oaks Ranch area. 

The project is on I-10 at Ralph Fair Road. Most of the work is on the RFR bridge itself; we're rebuilding the bridge to accommodate growth in the area. It's also the start of a multi-project effort to convert the frontage roads through The Leon Springs/Fair Oaks Ranch area to one-way frontage roads, enhancing safety as growth continues.

Let's talk some details of the project....

Total estimated project cost is $7.6 million.

Project's estimated completion is late spring/early summer 2015.

Contractor is Sundt Construction.

For the first month or so, work will focus on adjusting the eastbound frontage road at RFR for construction. Drivers should keep in mind the frontage road will be converted to a one-way frontage road from near Aue Road to RFR. The westbound frontage road will also be converted to a one-way frontage road.

Let's clear something up: these frontage roads are currently two-way. We'll call the frontage road along the westbound main lanes the westbound frontage road (which it will be when we're done) and the frontage road on the eastbound side will likewise be called the eastbound frontage road.

Anyway, once our work on the eastbound frontage road finishes up for phasing work on the bridge will commence. In addition to expanding the bridge (today it has just a single lane in each direction; we'll have a bridge with three lanes each way when we're done) we are adding a west-to-east turnaround.

Over the next year-plus of work we'll prioritize keeping the bridge open to traffic and the exit ramp to RFR operable (the ramp will be rebuilt as part of the effort to convert the frontage road). Overnight closures of the bridge and I-10 main lanes will be used as needed to place bridge support beams and other structures.

The remaining work to convert frontage roads between The Dominion and Fair Oaks Ranch will begin in about a year.